Summary
Samaritan head scribe (katib) and interpreter (turjiman) for the mutasallim of Nablus (1712-1790), an eyewitness to Zahir al-Umar’s 1771 siege of Nablus, whose account Doumani uses for the city’s defence (Rediscovering Palestine: Merchants and Peasants in Jabal Nablus, 1700-1900, lines 1900-2166).
Details
- According to al-Samiri, the Tuqan family and Nimr family divided the city in half during the siege: the Nimrs defended all points east, the Tuqans all points west, the dividing line being Khan al-Tujjar (Rediscovering Palestine: Merchants and Peasants in Jabal Nablus, 1700-1900, lines 1900-2166).
- Al-Samiri’s figure, given with Doumani’s caution “(if we are to believe al-Samiri)”, is 12,000 riflemen, many of them peasants, facing Zahir al-Umar after nine days of skirmishes and one heavy battle (Rediscovering Palestine: Merchants and Peasants in Jabal Nablus, 1700-1900, lines 1900-2166).
Related pages
Rediscovering Palestine: Merchants and Peasants in Jabal Nablus, 1700-1900, Zahir al-Umar, Nablus, Khan al-Tujjar